the president's" provides insights into the 44 american presidents. true stories gathered by noted presidential historians. the challenges they faced and the legacies they left behind. published by public affairs, it will be on shelves april 23. you can preorder your copy as a hardcover or e-book today at [no /theo] -- www.c-span.org presidents. >> coming up, president trump holds a joint news conference with jair bolsonaro. that is scheduled for 1:45 eastern and you can see it live on c-span. always glad to welcome eleanor clift for -- to our desk. she is the washington correspondent -- correspondent

for "the daily beast." donald trump can win reelection here is democrats fear he can do it." assertive,member the positive things he can do. he could get a good deal with china which could help him secure his base of support in the midwest. withuld try to work congress on infrastructure and an immigration deal, but no one believes that will happen. this president has burned a lot of bridges with the congress, and he now seems determined to head to another showdown over shutting down the government. voters, groups, most even supporters say he should tweet less or differently, which should not happen. i concluded that there is not much the president can or will do to improve his position, and

that his future is in the hands of the democrats and the nominee that they find in this crowded field, and whether that person will be able to defeat the president. about what he can do when it comes to the democratic nominees is provoking democrats into nominating a candidate that will fit into the socialist frame that he wants to talk about. proposal having to do with preparing a safety net, or positive programs to improve the lives of people, i think the president will call whatever the democrats propose socialism. some democratic candidates fall more easily into that frame, and he -- he is setting it up about who will run. he is going to find nicknames for everyone. the democrat is going to have to know how to punch back, and i harken back to the days of fdr

when republicans called his social programs socialism and he said, bring it on and i wear it as a badge of honor. democrats will have to aggressively defend their position, but they will also have to know how to counterpunch and get back at this president, not necessarily get down in the mud, but figure out ways to counterattack. host: you also talk about the history and where it can be instructional. specifically, 1972. guest: i talked to some consultants, and everyone has their own theories. amy walter said that this is or 1992, and 72 of course, the democrats found the most left candidate in their field, george mcgovern who had been a bomber pilot in world war

ii, but was somehow portrayed as like he aggressively was a flower child. and he lost rather hugely. clinton was able to navigate a center position that restored the democrats to the white house after 12 years in the wilderness. he was the candidate who matched the moment. i think democrats will have to find which candidate is that matches this particular moment. the field in the country, at least the democratic electorate is to the left and capitalism has taken hits recently, and young people who have grown up in this time are attracted to socialism because they do not see that they have gotten much benefit out of capitalism. that will be an ongoing debate in the democratic field. host: with so energy -- so much energy on the left, where the

room for the moderates and which moderate would be the best position? guest: there are plenty of rooms for moderates and they would not have taken the house they did not win many districts for moderates. they basically ran for seats that any democrat would have won, and the primary, and the district. the bulk of seats that gave the democrats their majority came from districts that have been held by republicans, and moderates are not as vociferous and they do not get the news headlines. you look at the governors now stepping into the field, governor jay inslee, and beto '' -- is as a monument moderate. moderateesident of the faction of the democrats.

and joe biden, even though he gets in, he says he has the most aggressive record and talking in terms of a complement -- of accomplishments and legislation delivered. att: you can read her work thedailybeast.com. you can call in and chat with her. for democrats, 202-748-8000. .or republicans, 202-748-8001 for independents, 202-748-8002. derek, from maine. you are on. if republicans had said like the of the things coastal elites had said, the media would have gone crazy. for you to do this

to president trump, and not to obama? guest: i would just turn your question around. president obama had done and said many of the things that president trump had said, i think republicans would be outraged. i think a lot of this is in the eye of the beholder, and i think what you describe is coastal brooklyn,as born in that is on one coast. my parents were immigrants, my dad had a delicatessen. i hardly think of myself as a coastal elite. i must say, president trump has offended many people, or he would not have the low approval ratings that he has. he has never hit 50% and he did not win the popular vote. he is a weak president going into reelection. 2016, and any democrat that inks he will be a pushover

is not thinking correct lay. we are in for a fight, and it is a full, crowded field, and i think politics is the best and worst in human behavior. we have a lot to observe over the next year and a half. host: do you think joe biden will jump in? guest: he is not good at keeping a secret. he basically declared himself as having the most progressive record as anyone in the field which sounds like he is getting in. he has wanted to be president for at least 35 years, this would be his third try. i think he regrets that he did not get in in 2016. this is the last chance, and i think he is thinking that the third time's the charm. if he does not work, he can say he tried, and my colleague at "the daily beast" had an interesting piece in" the new york times" saying that everything thinks that joe biden

can be president tom -- president trump, but nobody thinks he can get the nomination. and why is that? the primary process can be brutal. every flaw,ey find meaning the media and the voters. , the primaryrats quality for anybody they nominate should be, can they defeat the president. host: we heard from joe biden over the weekend at the dinner. here's a little bit. [video clip] >> we do not treat the opposition as the enemy. say a nice word about a republican when they do something good. some people think we do this because we are a small state and we will run into that person on the others of a debate again or in a grocery store, or church, or at the beach. all true. but i think it is more than

that. it is more than that. barack always used to kid me because i would repeat 1000 things to him as michelle writes in her book. she said "joe was like barack's big brother" so i could be completely candid. when i was asked for advice, i would pass on the advice i got from my mother and father and say politics is personal, and it is personal. one of the reasons things get on a little better in delaware than other places is that we know one another. as much as you disagree with the man or woman across from you on the merits of a political problem, you also know that they may have a son or daughter who is ill, or that someone's wife or husband is suffering from breast cancer or prostate cancer. you might know who has fallen on hard times. it makes it hard to dislike them

when you know someone. when you know the struggles that they are going through. it makes them hard to dislike them. [and video clip caller: -- guest: he spent 30 years in the senate which is a very clubby institution. that is how a representative democracy works. compromise, and it is easier to compromise if you know the person. that joeed recently biden delivered the eulogy at strom thurmond's funeral and i got tweets saying that will not help joe biden saying he was friends with strom thurmond, who was a southern segregationist. they were colleagues on the judiciary committee, there were votes, judges, and deals made. this is how government works, or did work.

i think you will run into trouble on the campaign trail where you have an inpatient group of activists who think this is selling out and giving into the other side. he got a lot of criticism. he campaigned in michigan, i think for a democrat, and was at some event and he singled out fred upton for praise, which was then used in a campaign ad by the upton campaign. democrats feel that he may have cost them a seat. >> thank you very much everyone. thank you.